Manx Muso, Mr Riff, made his first visit to the Orkey Blues Festival last week
and so far as I know this was the first playing visit to the Festival by any
Manx musician so congratulations Baz.

In an email to the Festival Website Mr Riff said: "The people were wonderful
and very friendly, the gigs were well organised and the reception we got was
fantastic. I played an impromptu couple of tunes at
The Reel
in Kirkwall on Thursday night
at a blues club night (I had only popped in for a pint).

The festival began on Friday night with a gig at
The Ferry Inn
.
I have never seen so many people in such a small space ever.
(and) everyone was up for a night of boogie.

The gig on Saturday was another good one, with slightly more room this time, at
The Royal Hotel.
The last gig was the best. I was told that no one had ever played in
The Flattie Bar
of
The Stromness
Hotel
before.
When I saw the size of it I realised why - it was tiny. But no one cared they
just piled in.
If you wanted money out of your pocket it was easier to ask someone else... they
were nearer. But it was brilliant. At one stage there was three hands playing
my guitar, and I'm pretty sure I've
only got two.

I worked out why Orkney seemed so much like home; the weather.
It never stopped blowing. They have a saying on the Island, If your hat blows
off, go look for it in
Norway.

Overall (my trip) was a total success, I sold a load of CD's and a lot of
people expressed an interest in Mr Riff for other festivals. I also made the
(local) paper this week, Orkney Today, and there's a big pic of me gurning for
Britain!"